Red Cross speeds military notices — at what cost?

As center handles a higher percentage of calls within two hours, some cases languish

Amid hard times, the program received special allocations from Congress in 2011 and 2012 worth $48 million, money that was used to upgrade and consolidate call-centers and improve customer service. Consolidating the centers provides consistency among the caseworkers who answer phones 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Red Cross said. It also allows managers to standardize training.

Case studies

Soon after learning that his ex-wife passed away, the likely victim of suicide early this year, David Navarrette of New Mexico realized that someone would have to find and tell their son, at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

He turned to the Red Cross, and was disappointed that the urgent news took 26 hours to get to the son’s commanding officer.

“We were bothered,” said David Navarrette, a retired Marine. “My son was in boot camp and we were trying to get him home. ... It took longer than it should have.”

One day last summer, Tina Hall had a stroke. Doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis worried the transfusion she needed might cause a heart attack.

After she stabilized, Hall called the Red Cross to get word to her husband, half a world away in Afghanistan. The nonprofit took nearly 34 hours to deliver the home-visit request to Bagram Air Base. The nurse was reluctant to provide a statement on Hall’s condition, something that is required before delivering a message.

Hall’s husband made it home and she has nothing but gratitude for the Red Cross. She blamed delays on doctors who would not call back the caseworker. “I finally talked the nurse into talking to the Red Cross,” she said.

Longtime employees said a better-trained caseworker would know how to get around roadblocks like reluctant nurses. They say the transition at call centers has not been entirely smooth.

“Cases are taken and shoved off into verification queues and then they’re lost,” said one worker who did not want to be named due to fear of retaliation. “Managers and directors are running it more as a call center for a toaster-repair place.”

Before the reorganization, caseworkers followed a case from beginning to end. When they answered a call, they were responsible for seeing it through to delivery. That is no longer the practice.

The new system aims for efficiency by empowering all center employees to pick up and work cases as needed. Managers at the beginning and end of every shift review holdover cases to make sure they are processed.

The Red Cross has about 160 people dedicated to its four call centers. They handle approximately 1,500 cases per day, up to 550,000 a year. Centers are staffed with anywhere from a handful of employees to 15 or more.

Typical of the efforts to keep things moving was an email from a call-center manager in May.

“All Case Workers — Please Take Incoming Calls,” it said. “Do not attempt to work them unless they are life-threatening. Just do the intake and place them in the appropriate queue for now.”